Phantom12

Its very hard to find. The idiotic thing is it only shows up when its hovering over the clickable part of the UI, which is very small when the Grease Pencil window is closed. Its bad enough with the Radio menu but this is worse.

Yeah the yellow crosshair is the wrong one. Its the white one you want. Unfortunately DCS hides the white crosshair in VR unless you are over something clickable, so its way too easy to "lose" the cursor... Infuriatingly poor design but its a DCS problem.

The grease pencil works in VR. I imagine the problem from the post above relates to the fact that for whatever reason DCS uses a separate cursor for the cockpit and the Radio menu & options menu etc. The yellow cross is for the pit and there is a little white dot which is for the menus. HBUI uses the white dot too. Unfortunately the white dot hides itself when not hovering over something clickable, and its usually totally somewhere else from the yellow cursor. So for small things like the Grease pencil or Radio menu you have to wobble the mouse all over the place in VR until you randomly happen to "find" the 2nd cursor. Its a real pain, but I think its a DCS issue.

As cool as combat tree is it won't give you any information that the magic EWR doesn't give you already. If MiGs are flying at 50ft in ground clutter you will still struggle to lock them, even if you know where they are. Combat tree also isn't unique to DMAS.

I did a bit of testing when the F-4 came out and came to the conclusion that the biggest issue isn't really Jester's ability, so much that using him effectively requires brainpower from the front seater that in many cases is better spent elsewhere. Jester can be effective IF you understand the Radar well enough to put the airplane in an optimum position (situation permitting), have developed your own little tactics to make use of these advantages, and understand/have practiced enough with the Jester commands to know when and how to ask him to do what you want. This mainly revolves around positioning for lookup & using the right radar elevation command to put the bandit in the search cone (this requires AWACS telling you bandit altitude, Mental math/guesstimation , and a somewhat cooperative bandit who doesn't change altitude regularly.... With contrails something like STAB OUT would be easier). Once you ask him to lock its also important to fly straight and level while he moves the cursor around and establishes the lock. If you don't do this he is much more likely to lock ground clutter (which would happen to a human too). I usually put him in Narrow Scan mode too for a faster update rate. On the subject of Aspect: I can't help but feel that anything other than a head to head intercept is all that common in DCS. The AI is all knowing and will fly right at you no matter how sneaky you are, and in MP players have either magic RWR's or the All knowing EWR report function common on Cold War servers. The most likely scenario is that you will be flying head on with the MiGs. Against a MiG-21 the detection range is about 15 NM head on, which at 1200 Vc means about 45-60s between first detection and the merge. Here's where the problems lie IMO: 1. Interacting with Jester is slower than doing things yourself in a single seat airplane. This is ofc because jester is rightfully simulated as a human being and not a Robot. This isn't really an "issue" on its own, but just a reality of the Phantom. When combined with #2 however it becomes a limiting factor in achieving forward quarter shots before the merge. A Human WSO with decent situational awareness is probably faster in these situations too. 2. Last time I flew (which was admittedly a few updates ago) Jester wasn't really capable of diagnosing and correcting a false/bad lock on his own. This means that you have to spend even more brainpower looking at the screen to validate the lock, and then alot of time asking him to unlock, and re-lock. This process generally takes long enough that you are still trying to lock a 2nd time as you blow past each other in the merge. Jester also likes to set the Gain really high and takes a bit longer to tune it down and filter out contacts than a good human would. This can also make filtering clutter and achieving a lock take longer. All of this time you are spending sucked into the radar screen and mashing buttons on the jester wheel (or trying to pronounce things properly for Voice attack) instead of looking out the window. The result is usually hitting the merge with 0 situational awareness, which is a recipe for disaster. In my experience you are better off either ignoring sparrows altogether, or taking whatever lock you get, shooting and hope for the best, but continue to the merge with the attitude that it was a miss. Even with a perfect lock the Sparrows fuzing etc isn't so reliable that they are 100% reliable anyway. The best compromise I came up with was to try for a BVR/Forward quarter shot initially, but at the latest once you hit 5NM ignore jester and the radar screen and look out the window instead. This gives you a chance of spotting missile trails, additional bandits, or to maneuver the airplane at the last minute so you can hit the merge with an advantage for the ensuing dogfight. Given Sparrows are 500lbs each its probably even worth shooting them without a lock just as a bluff to make the bandit evade etc. Being 500-1000lbs lighter will definitely help you in the WVR arena. Alternatively you can try CAA mode or Boresight. CAA's 5 NM limit means you are generally very short on time to lock, wait 4s and shoot, and it also likes to lock ground clutter quite a bit. Boresight works decently well if you can see the target at longer ranges (although that's technically not BVR anymore). At low altitudes or in look down situations (have you ever seen anyone in a cold war MP server fly higher than 500 ft?) BVR locks aren't Alot of this is mostly just the limits of the Phantom, not really caused by Jester. A really good Human WSO is probably better/faster, and would require less handholding, but the basic problems will remain the same. Maybe when HB releases the F-4J with the fancy PD modes

This should tell you something about the standard of guesswork that has been used in other modules thus far.....

Been a DCS problem for a long time and they can never seem to get it quite right. Part of the problem is still how easy it is to spot things 15-20NM away yet at 2NM aircraft disappear. The only real answers are to lower resolution and use very little AA. If you're in VR I had some success with tips about scan technique and consciously letting your eyes focus on terrain or clouds in the distance rather than up close on the fuzz & scratches on the canopy. Still in anything after the 2v2 scenario my main problem pretty much became keeping track of everyone/anyone well enough to make myself useful in those engagements. Very challenging with that many airplanes around.

Not quite finished it yet myself but can only agree that the campaign is well worth it and lots of fun. Definitely a good look at some of the tactics of the time and good scenarios to practice those in. Certainly the best way to do it in SP I think. The more complex multi-aircraft scenarios are the highlight for me. I think the 2v2 is definitely the sweetspot as far as being able to really nail it in a satisfying way. Its an impressive feat to get the AI in DCS to behave in a way thats even remotely realistic/helpful/cooperative/communicative with the player, but you can tell even with the scripted help the 2vUnk and 4vUnk are a bit beyond their limits. Even then the different approaches you can take to each intercept and the randomisation of the bogeys make the 2&4vUnk hops very interesting to fly, if chaotic.

Yes its quite clear if you look at turn rates and AI behaviour in Tacview that alot of the 1v1 events are quite scripted. Obviously this is necessary given the broken nature of the AI in DCS. That they can be forced into behaving in a way that seems even remotely correct is a feat in and of itself. The AI in the 2v1 events is much less constrained but still I didnt have any issues staying at least stalemated in a rate fight with either the F-5 or F-86. And thats generally fine if you are the engaged fighter in that case anyway. The F-5 in DCS is a good standin for Vietnam era MiG-21s, and their main disadvantage vs the F-4 is how much thrust they have. Both can sustain similar turn rates but if things get slow the F-5 will never recover. The moves taught in the earlier missions are good basics for where to start vs the F-5, but if you need more guidance you can check out the original declassified have doughnut report, which contains a bunch of specific advice for what sort of tactics to use against the MiG 21. Basically extensions, pitchbacks and oblique loops can be used to keep meeting the enemy more or less neutral until hes at such an energy deficit that you can force a position advantage.

Yeah thats what I guessed at the time. Just wasnt 100% sure as that WP is still within the shoshone range. I flew there and passed within a mile of him without seeing him. Since I didnt trust the INS, didnt know any visual landmarks at that WP and didnt want to screw with the jester menu to reselect that WP I went to Piute to use the tacan and cover all my bases. It wouldnt be a problem except I cant call him and ask what he meant, nor did I have the fuel to spend a long time looking for him (a least partially my fault, but not unexpected). Ofc I can cheat with F10 but the whole point of a campaign like this is not to

TBH the intro threw me off as well. I "briefed" for the Fam flight expecting to start there and was then confused by the airstart... Ok looked through the kneeboard and figured out what was going on... more or less. I think it might have gone better if the ingame brief referenced the info docs and kneeboards rather than suggesting to read the briefing docs (which dont exist for the intro). Like I said I read the FAM flight brief instead. A fuel ladder or a quick "you are nearing the end of your crosscountry flt to go to TOPGUN etc etc etc" might have helped. I decided to accept the surprise but struggled to find lead again afterwards. Classic DCSism in that he told me to find him outside the range... Is that outside the entire range area? Or just the range that we were in when we started. In hindsight I had guessed correctly where he was but since jester is muted and spotting is marginal in DCS I flew right past him without spotting him.... I was relatively certain I was in the right spot at the next steerpoint (and tacview showed that I was) but given you're not supposed to mess with jester and i wasnt sure what steerpoint he had selected anymore I decided to go to piute and see if he was there. Piute also has a Tacan fix so theres no risk of INS issues etc. No luck and fuel was very critical at this point. IRL I would have just landed or used the radio to talk to lead, but thats no bueno in DCS. In the end I went back and forth and after trying to find him with the radar or IFF I used the f2/f10 view to find him and rejoin but I flamed out as I got into formation. Ill admit I should have knocked off a bit earlier during the surprise but bingo was a guessing game given the brief was a 30 second squint at the kneeboard. I guessed wrong. Had something like 3-4000 lbs left which I figured would be more than enough to make it to indian springs. Just not enough to do it 3 times. 2nd attempt went much better but even then I actually flamed out upon rolling into the chocks. Hope the above doesnt come off too much as a rant. I get that designing triggers to be idiot proof makes life difficult in DCS. Havent made it much further yet but apart from the initial hiccup things seem very promising. Certainly whatever you've done to the dogfighting AI seems pretty nice.

14-15 looks right and feels pretty good too. But the hook still doesnt engage. Tried 5 or 6 passes again about 2 or 3 each with 14-15 and with 17 or so.... A couple pretty good right on the ball all the way down to the 3 wire... bolters every time. If I fly a cut pass and taxi it through the wires it caught one on the 1st attempt.

Im by no means an expert on the system but that is my understanding from what Ive read here and in the discord etc yes.

AFAIK there is no CW reciever in the system, which is the type of signal usually used to guide the SARH missiles like Sparrow in game. The SAMs are a different beast altogether and for the early SA-2/3 etc Sams we are talking about IIRC the RHAW gear could separately detect both changes in the pattern of emmisions from the TRs or the guidance commands to the missiles themselves (command guidance missiles are basically like big remote controlled airplanes). This as well as the plethora of EW systems used by the US also opened the door to all sorts of strange, unusual and creative tactics with these early Sams in Vietnam which arent simulated at all in DCS. Things like spoofing launches or launching missiles unguided until the last minute to trick the RHAW gear etc.

Fair enough. TBH Id have been surprised if HB hadnt modeled it to the extent you say even if its a secondary/unimportant feature. Just that I tried it a fair number of times and struggled much more than I ever have in any other aircraft, and IIRC one of the content creators in the pre release livestream had very similar issues. As far as the field vs CV comment I meant more as in whether the hydraulics or dampening etc etc was altered in the real USAF aircraft vs the Navy ones. I understand its a similar situation with the gear where the basic structural components are all the same but the tires and some tuning of the hydraulic struts etc are different. Ill see if I can determine a proper AoA next time I boot up DCS and try it again. Edit: had another quick look through some charts and I think in the E somewhere around 14-15 units might give the same attitude as the Onspeed attitude for the J. Assuming the hook and gear dimensions are the same thats probably not a bad starting point. Very fast though, probably a destructively high descent rate given that the 19 unit approach speeds are already significantly higher than for the Naval F-4s.